Ceiling fans aren’t just on/off affairs, and it’s possible you could be using yours incorrectly. According to Consumer Reports, people get tripped up by the ability to reverse the direction of the blades…

All of the ceiling fans we recently tested run clockwise to blow air downward and have a switch that you flip to reverse the motion of the blade. During warm weather, you run the fan clockwise to create a breeze that cools you—that’s the wind-chill effect, the same cool breeze you feel when you roll down the window in a moving car.

Many ceiling-fan manufacturers—and various Web sites out there—suggest that you run the ceiling fan counterclockwise when the weather is cold and the heat is on in your home. The idea is that the fan mixes the warm air collecting at the ceiling and moves it back down into the perimeter of room, creating a higher average room temperature and less need for heat.

If the blades are spinning counterclockwise, then you’re doing it wrong, and the fan is circulating warmer air. You want the blades to rotate clockwise, generating a relaxing breeze to help ward off this miserable !@#$% heat.

Q&A: Which direction should the blades on my ceiling fan rotate?
(Photo: ewen and donabel)

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